Will a Thai-style Coup Happen in China? – Zhu Jianling (Êú±Âª∫Èôµ)

Zhu Jianling (Êú±Âª∫Èôµ), the Beijing correspondent for the Taiwanese newspaper China Times, published an article on September 22nd, “Will a Thai-style Coup Happen in China?” The following excerpts were translated by CDT:

What does the Thai coup mean to China? After watching the news on CCTV, a local party school in China debated this issue on noon September 20th. The debate participants eliminated the possibility of a military coup set off by current corruption. The reason, however, is that corruption is so ubiquitous in China that it benefits all the privileged.

…….One side argued the main reason why the Thai coup hadn’t created a strong reaction from the public and political circles was the tremendous corruption Thaksin brought to the country when he was at the helm. The lesson the CCP should take from this is that anti-corruption work is vital to the life of party governance.

The other side argued corruption in Thailand is the singular behavior of the Thaksin family, and it invited anger from the whole upper-strata of society, whereas corruption in China is structural, and is benefiting all levels of privileged groups. No single family holds a monopoly over corruption; there is not even a single political faction that has a monopoly. So corruption in China won’t trigger a coup. [Full text in Chinese]